Imagine a world where people didn’t really care so much about what other people thought — not in a selfish I’m going to do what I want no matter who gets hurt kind of way but in a sing like no one is listening way, or my favourite: dance like no one is watching. Well, being an Aries, not to mention having a slight penchant for liking center stage, I actually like it when people watch me dance, but I *cough* digress.
Despite my love for dancing in public (I’m usually the first person on the dance floor and completely sober), I do still find myself being self-conscious about how I may be perceived by others, so I only engage in said beloved activity in the privacy of my living room or in the public places where it’s appropriate to do so. However, I do LOVE the idea of just not caring — of letting loose and bustin’ a move whenever and wherever my soul feels like dancing.
Like many people these days, I walk around plugged into an MP3 player, listening to an assortment of awesome tunes. Every now and again, quite often when I’m waiting at a traffic light, a bitchin’ tune comes on and my body is just itching to move with the groove. I really wish I could just throw caution to the wind and not give a flying fig if people think I’m off my rocker (because you know they will even though some of them wish they could just cut loose too). I mean really, what is the worst that could happen? So they might think you’re crazy. So what?
Why are so many people (myself included to certain extent) so hung up about looking silly? Worrying what others might think is such a common fear that all too often stops us from truly enjoying life to the fullest. We deny ourselves the simple pleasure of totally rocking out on the side walk. Why does the opinion of complete strangers matter so much when all we are doing is having fun and expressing joy? We’re not hurting anyone (although, that might depend entirely on your style of dancing). Moshing is definitely not recommended while waiting for a traffic light.
What leads us to subconsciously embrace this conservative way of life? Where along life’s journey do we forget how to play, how to be silly, how to express joy when we feel it regardless of the furrowed brows of self-repressed onlookers? When did life become so serious? Are we deluding ourselves with the notion that in order to be responsible adults we must say goodbye to the joys we so freely expressed in our youth?
We have so much to learn from children. They enter the world with no preconceived notions or conditioned fears of looking silly. They look at the world wide eyed with excitement and curiosity. They sing, dance, draw, paint, roll play — they do everything with unbridled passion and uncensored by fear of judgment. Their free-spirited approach allows them to live, love, create and play like they haven’t a care in the world. Well, let’s face it, they don’t really have much to worry about. That’s our job, right?
After all, as adults we are the ones with the everyday stresses of making sure our families are well provided for, of paying bills, mortgages, car payments. Some of us work at demanding jobs we don’t really like just to make ends meet, and the list goes on. I mean, there’s just no time for fun and games.
Whatever our individual daily lives may look like on the outside, it’s safe to say most people deal with a lot of adult-related stress on the inside. So wouldn’t it be in the best interest of our health and well being to decompress and release the stress? To loosen up and learn to laugh at ourselves instead of judging ourselves and others? To tap into that inner child that lays buried deep within us all (some much deeper than others) and just let him or her come out to play?
Over the past few years, I have been blessed with the pleasure of having amazing people come into my life, and by being in the presence of their own wonderfully care free natures, I have been given “permission” to be a kid again.
To simply be silly for the sake of it, and sharing a wholehearted belly-aching laugh with others, is one of life’s most liberating experiences. To be free of the subconsciously self-imposed prison of conformity that hinders our innate joie de vivre is enlightening! By “enlightening” I mean having the weight of both societal and self-judgment lifted off our shoulders, “lightening” the heavy load of fear from our stressed out and shackled hearts, and allowing ourselves to simply release the joy that so wondrously dwells within us all.
It is absolutely possible to be a responsible adult AND have fun and total silliness as part of the equation. So why should we continue this madness of holding ourselves back from experiencing the elation of pure silliness? Let’s simply let go of our fear of being judged by the fuddy-duddies of the world, embrace our creative fun-loving inner children and just have a laugh at ourselves in the process. Wherever we are, if our souls so move us, let us dance like no one is watching. And if dancing doesn’t happen to be your thing, then find out what your thing is and do it unabashedly and wholeheartedly. Give yourself permission to simply release the joy!
Photo Credits
“Release the joy” Emily Jane Photography @ flickr.com. Creative Commons. Some Rights Reserved.
“Dance of the sky” richelleantipolo @ flickr.com. Creative Commons. Some Rights Reserved.
Recent Kylen O. Lefave Articles:
- Forgiveness: Beyond the Myths to Healing
- Mean People Suck
- How to Deal with the Stress of Living in Uncertain Times
- How to Tackle Procrastination
- My Own Personal "Cheers"
Kylen,
Great topic for this time of year. I like to think that Joy is a natural state. We have joy at our disposal, but get caught up in the day-to-day grind. Thanks for the wonderful post. Namaste, Sherry
What a lovely article. The “Dance as if Nobody’s Watching” philosophy is one that certainly deserves restating again and again since we adults struggle so hard to embrace it. I think many of us want to, but find that when the moment of silliness wells up within us we automatically repress it. It may be that we actually don’t know how to let the silliness and joy out anymore. It’s a skill that is perhaps lost as we get older and so we require training to reclaim it. Thanks for the reminder!
aww thx for your comment, Andrea:)
One expression that has stuck with me over the years, and is especially true as i get older, is “we don’t stop playing because we grow old, we grow old because we stop playing.” How very true. And thus I make a point of keeping my youthfulness very much alive within my soul…and I am much happier for it:)